Ryan Bozer:
Thanks for joining us here on SDPB, where we have news stories for you throughout the day and on occasion, bring your morning in play. I'm SDPB's Ryan Bozer. Joining me is our sports and recreation reporter, Nate Wek, who I just know has another great rodeo story to share with us this week. Nate, glad to have you here again, man.
Nate Wek:
Hey, thanks, Ryan.
Ryan Bozer:
So we've been talking about the results still from the rodeo championships that occurred, I think three, four weeks ago now. Time's slipping past me slowly, but then we're now in the season of the National Championships, which some of the competitors who won here in the state are out competing at. One of the people you wanted to talk about today is out there competing right now.
Nate Wek:
Yeah, so Ryen Shepick, a peer junior, going to be a senior next year, so still has another year of high school rodeo to compete yet at the high school level. But she had a really successful week, I guess you could say, at the state rodeo finals this year. Reined cow horse, she won that. She won girls cutting. And then while we were interviewing her, this is kind of funny actually, while we were interviewing her for girls cutting and reined cow horse, she also then found out at that exact time that, oh, by the way, I just found out I won breakaway roping, as well. So it was one of those things where we were like, oh, okay, let's hit record on the camera again. We'll ask you another quick question about breakaway roping.
Ryan Bozer:
Yeah.
Nate Wek:
So no, it was fun getting a chance to talk with her. And she was actually named the All-Around Cowgirl, as well, at the state rodeo finals this year. So she's in Wyoming this week competing at nationals.
But Ryan, we've had some conversations here the last few weeks about why kids enjoy rodeo because of the friendships they have. They enjoy the people. But there's another friendship side of rodeo that we haven't really talked about yet, and Ryen touched on this friendship, and that's the relationship between competitor and their horse. These animals are working with them on a regular basis with training. They go through training just like the rodeo competitors do, and there really is a tight-knit bond. Here's Ryen talking about that relationship.
Ryen Shepick:
And my horse, I'm super proud of her. Remmy. We first got her as a barrel horse and she actually really hated barrels, and so we just started roping off of her and that was the one event she actually really liked. So I just started taking her places and she's been working super good ever since. And yeah, I'm really proud of her.
Ryan Bozer:
You can really hear from how she talks about her horse and competing with her horse. It truly is a teammate. It's a friend. It's somebody that you're connected with on a level and therefore able to perform at the level that Ryan performed at. So I think you're really touching on something here, Nate, of how interconnected that relationship between the animals you're working with and competing with factors into your rodeo performance.
Nate Wek:
Oh, absolutely. If the relationship between rider and horse is not there, it is not going to work. And I think a lot of people involved in rodeo will tell you that. You have to have a working relationship, but you also have to be comfortable with each other. You have to know each other's strengths. And there are some rodeo kids that'll tell you, "Man, my horse, I don't know exactly what I'm going to get day in and day out." Who knows, type of thing. And then you have other ones that are like, "I love my horse, they run the ranch. My horse runs the ranch because they get spoiled by everybody." And that kind of thing. So it really is like they are a member of the family, I guess you could say.
Ryan Bozer:
Yeah, absolutely.
Nate Wek:
And I think that's really cool.
Ryan Bozer:
Talk about bonds with animals in other arenas, people have very deep connections with their pets at home. Your hamster, your dog, your cat. But to have that animal that you're competing with and having to trust as you're riding it that it's going to listen to your commands and your responses as you're going, to me that sounds like another level.
Nate Wek:
Absolutely. And the other thing that I like about, at least at the high school level, and I know that all horses and stuff have names, but it really is fun to have all the different rodeo competitors tell you what their horse's name is. You might have one that's like Chili or Bandit, fun sort of names. And it got me thinking, what would I name a horse if I had one? And I don't know if I know. Do you have a name that you would name a horse?
Ryan Bozer:
Off the top of my head, no. I've always named my pets and stuff very like human sounding names. So the family dog's Jack and my own personal dog, his name is, again, very human sounding name, is Chester. So I assume I'd pick something in that realm of like, oh, well is he talking about a person? Oh no, it's a horse, right?
Nate Wek:
Hank. This is my horse, Hank.
Ryan Bozer:
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Doug. Oh, goodness. So you had mentioned that national competition is going on right now, just next door in Wyoming. How long is that running for?
Nate Wek:
That goes through the 20th.
Ryan Bozer:
Okay. So into the weekend. Awesome. Well, hopefully there's some South Dakota success that comes out of that. That would be awesome to see some of the athletes that worked so hard and did so well here in state do well on the national level, as well.
Nate Wek:
Yep. And Piper Cordes last year was a national champion. We've had numerous national champions over the years. One of the more fun ones that I can remember, too, is Cash Wilson out a Wall. Getting a chance to go see him after he won the national championship and his family inviting us in to their ranch and getting a chance to spend a day with them.
That's the other thing about rodeo, it doesn't matter, any sort of kid we want to go highlight, the family just welcomes you in with open arms to their ranches. They show you around. That's another thing that just really showcases how great the rodeo people are in this state. It's such a welcoming group of people. They'll do anything for you. It's really fun and that's why it's fun for me because for state and at nationals, it's hard not to root for the success of these kids and these families because it really is much deeper than just one run, or one day, or even one event. It goes so much deeper than that. There's so much more time and energy and effort that's at stake. So it's hard not to root for all these kids and these families, and I absolutely wish them all the best of luck.
Ryan Bozer:
Yeah. Well, we'll be rooting for them as they finish up their competition through Saturday, and we will see if we have any results to talk about next week. Yeah?
Nate Wek:
Yep. That sounds good, Ryan.
Ryan Bozer:
Awesome. All right. Thanks for joining us again this week, Nate.
Nate Wek:
All right, I appreciate it, Ryan. Take care.
